Analysis of performance test results of 141 CT scaners in Beijing

Abstract

Objective To analyze the performance differences of CT scanners with different detector rows between different manufacturers, and to provide the basis for the rational allocation and use of these CT scanners. Methods According to the result from the sentinel surveillance in 2014, a total of 148 medical institutions were equipped with CT scanners in 16 districts of Beijing, including general hospital (53), cancer hospital (5), TCM hospitals (25), children′s hospitals (2), community hospitals (30) and other specialized medical institutions (33). According to the principle of simple random sampling, 40 medical institutions are selected, including 14 general hospitals, 1 cancer hospital, 7 Chinese medicine hospitals, 1 children′s hospital, 8 community hospitals and 9 other specialized medical institutions. A total of 141 CT scanners are selected from all CT sets of the selected medical institutions from 2012 to 2014. According to GB 17589-2011 X-ray computed tomography device quality assurance testing status test, four parameters related closely to image quality were tested, including CT value (water), noise, high contrast resolution, and low contrast detectability. Results No significant differences were found in CT value (water), noise and low contrast detectability among CT scanners produced by different manufacturers (P>0.05), whereas high contrast resolution was found to have a remarkable difference (χ2=34.706, P 0.05). For less-than-64 detector row CT scanners, no significant difference was found in CT value (water), noise and low contrast detectability among different manufacturers(P>0.05). only high contrast resolution differed remarkably (χ2=9.941, P 0.05), whereas, there were significant difference in high contrast resolution and low contrast detectability (χ2=31.376, 32.967, P<0.05). Conclusions There were a few differences in the performance testing of CT scanners from different manufacturers, and the less-than-64 detector row CT scanners have advantages in noise and low contrast detectability compared with the more-than-64 detector row CT scanners, whereas the latter have advantages in high contrast resolution and scanning time, allowing its wider application in medical institutions with more special diseases. Key words: CT noise; High contrast resolution; Low resolution detectability